Attacks on IDF Rise as 25 More Arrested

Arrests continue in 'Operation Brothers' Keeper' - sparking a flurry of attacks on IDF soldiers searching for the kidnapped teens.

By Tova Dvorin

First Publish: 6/20/2014, 8:01 AM

Soldiers coordinating search for missing teens

Flash 90

The IDF arrested another 25 terrorists overnight Thursday, officials stated Friday morning, on the eighth day of Israel's search for kidnapped yeshiva students Naftali Frenkel, Gilad Sha'ar, and Eyal Yifrah.

Overnight, the Nahal Brigade raided the town of Dheisha just outside Bethlehem in Judea; the Paratroopers Brigade raided Dura, which is south of Hevron; and the 900 Brigade operated in Ramallah.

The IDF also operated in Shechem (Nablus), Kalandiya, and other places with a significant Hamas terror infrastructure, officials said.

A senior IDF officer pointed out that on the eighth day of Operation 'Brothers' Keeper,' hostilities in Arab towns against the IDF have escalated, with many soldiers being the target of rock and Molotov cocktail attacks.

Thursday night, one soldier sustained light injuries from a stone lobbed at him by a terrorist in Kalandiya.

Tensions in Palestinian Authority (PA) controlled areas have been rising as the IDF continues to search for the three yeshiva students, who Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu confirmed were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists last Thursday night.

Several attacks have been launched against IDF soldiers in the past several days; on Wednesday, Palestinian Arabs in a passing vehicle attempted to run over IDF soldiers stationed near Bethlehem.

Soldiers opened fired at the vehicle in response; no injuries or damage on the IDF side were reported.The vehicle's trunk was damaged during the shooting as it fled the scene.

On Sunday, assailants shot at Border Police from a passing vehicle near Har Gilo, located just south of Jerusalem and to the north of Bethlehem in Judea.

The attack took place just outside the tunnels leading from Jerusalem to the Gush Etzion area of Judea, an IDF spokesperson stated. No injuries or damage were reported from the attack.